Brick by Brick Labyrinth FanFic
by Skittzipoo
Summary: The story of the rise of the Goblin King as told through his eyes. What happened before Sarah and Toby showed up?
1. Chapter 1

Brick by Brick

A Labyrinth FanFic

Chapter One

The room was an interesting shade of orange that morning. Even the sheets turned a golden shade of red and the walls gleamed in the sunlight. The sun had just risen above the horizon and began filling the air with warmth. I'd begun to hate the feeling of warmth. The more I thought about how much I hated it, the warmer my body became. I slipped out of bed so as not to wake her. She stirred slightly then resumed her sound sleeping. I dragged my tired body to the window. The air was cooler at the window and it chilled my naked chest. A quick shiver erupted through my back and then faded like the waves off a shore.

I looked back to her, Mizumi. She looked, almost delicate the way her hands hung limply over the side of her bed, her face painted with a sound expression of peace. I couldn't stand it. I had to leave this place. I kissed her forehead one last time. I felt like poison to my lips, warm, disgusting poison. The touch must truly have been poison for she awoke on the spot. She squinted against the sun filling the room. "Jareth, darling, you're up so early. Lay with me a while," she breathed as she wrapped her arms around my neck. Her naked chest felt warm pressed against my back. I pulled away instantly. She became anxious as I began to gather my clothes.

"I'm leaving, and don't follow me," I said coldly, without even looking at her face. Naturally, as soon as I stepped one foot outside her palace I heard the echo of footsteps behind me. She begged me not to go, groveled at my feet. I shooed her away like she meant nothing. I'd become cold, and no longer wanted her "love," if you could even call it that. More like lust.

I journeyed far away from her palace. I didn't want to see her again, the vixen. So I traveled until my feet landed me in the middle of the fields of Gnor. I'd come upon a small village of goblins. Well, less of a village and more of a cluster of ramshackle huts piled together with sticks and mud with pathetic excuses for roofs. I'd been walking towards a small flickering light. Though I hated warmth I thought perhaps there would be someone to tell me where to go to live in solitude.

The camp of vermin welcomed me rather energetically, if energetic could be defined as a few cowardly goblins poking the half-sharpened ends of their mud caked daggers into my legs. Their ugly, contorted faces smiled foolishly upon me as they danced and scampered about. The stench of rotting flesh and unwashed teeth surrounded me as they gathered at my feet in a horrible attempt to overtake me. The moment my hand smacked one straight in the head, knocking him the ground, the rest of the pack let up. Although I'd only touched its forehead my hand was covered in grime and sweat and what could have only been oil from the goblins slimy skin. Only one had the sense to realize that I was too powerful to be overtaken by a pack of rodents less than half my size. He recognized his position and offered me some of their disgusting food. Only rats' intestines and gremlin eyes could pass for food for a filthy goblin.

"Jareth stay with us," the one called Spittledrum said to me as he handed me a glass of goblin wine which tasted more like salt mixed with bitter berries and crushed into rainwater. "We like you. Make you king."

"Yeah, Jareth king," more of them piped up. I'd assumed at the time that they were all drunk and pissing the night away around their pathetic excuse for a campfire. But later I learned, they weren't joking at all.

The goblins promised allegiance to me when all I'd done was show them a fraction of my magic powers. I told them I could give them anything they wanted; a sturdy home, decent food, formidable weapons, anything. They were pleased. They asked for a city, a Goblin City, to be built near my castle, so they could serve me. What a bunch of fools, and yet, somehow, this was what I wanted. I willed it, on my own, my castle from where I would rule my kingdom. The Labyrinth. I wanted to rule, so a throne was made in my possession. A castle, fashioned to my will.

For the goblins I constructed a city. A small plaza lay right outside my castle doors. It wasn't much, but it seemed to be everything they ever wanted. I hated it so. I'd given a home to such vile beings and it was right next to my own. The moment the goblins resided in it the place smelled to high heavens and became filthier that the goblins themselves, if that seemed at all possible. But who cares, I was their ruler, and their lives belonged to me. Hideous though he was, Spittledrum became my right hand man, or goblin rather. He stayed in the castle with me, although I rue the moment I made that decision. As soon as he was allowed in the castle walls, others followed. Soon, half the population of goblins dwelled in my halls. I'd become irritated and created a place just a foul as the goblins that lived around me, a place to remind the goblins of their place in my castle. The Bog of Eternal Stench.

I'd brought a party of goblins to the Bog, to scare them into further obedience, to show them the consequences of disobeying. I planned on dropping one in to make an example. However, while walking a small fox bite the sole of my boot. I kicked him off and though he did whimper, he got back up again and faced me with teeth showing. He snarled at me, "Who dares intrude in Sir Didymus' home?"

The goblins roared with rage at the insolent creature who did not know their ruler's name. They all shouted my name like a bunch of fools appraising their "caring" leader. I hushed them with a wave of my arm.

"Home?" I quizzed. "This putrid place is barely fit for goblins to live. Can you not smell the air?"

"Hmph! The air is sweet," the fox grinned as he inhaled a waft of air through his nostrils.

I shook my head at the creature and laughed to myself. "You are indeed 'brave' to say the least. So if it is your wish to stay here, Sir Didymus, you must guard this bridge here. No one shall pass without your permission. Understood?"

He nodded. I granted him what he desired most, a small lance, and a steed to keep him company. I wanted nothing more to do with the stupid fox so I turned and left, with my gang of goblins pinching their noses and gasping for breath behind me.

On the way back to the castle Quiver noticed a furry orange creature stealing food from one of the goblin's home. He brought it to me for judgment. It was disgusting. Its red fur was caked in dirt and it smelt like a wet dog. The horns on top of its head were mere stubs, so I assumed it was a baby. Slimy tears fell from its eyes as I held it in my arms. It kept crying "Ludo hungry." A pathetic name for an equally pathetic monster. I threw it to the ground and watched it crawl away. I turned to my goblin followers, "Do with it what you wish, but do not eat or kill it."

The goblins chased after the creature ecstatically, spears and other weapons in hand. I had no time for useless creatures like that pint-sized behemoth. And at least I could be alone to explore my newly constructed kingdom. The longer I ventured the more despicable creatures I encountered and the more I wanted people kept out. The more I wished for solitude, the more traps and tricks came to be in the Labyrinth. My will had not created a bulwark, but a living defense.

Brick by brick, the Labyrinth grew into a place worthy of my power. A kingdom fit for a Goblin King. Its walls grew stronger, pathways stranger, forests thicker, and inhabitants more repulsive. Although I knew I couldn't drive the existing creatures away, I made it so no one could ever reach me, not even Mizumi.

My subjects treated me like a god and in exchange I treated them like the dirt they were. They came to fear me, as I wanted. If you are feared, no one gets attached to you. I had no friends, only my magic. My magic that is as cold as glass, like a crystal.


	2. Chapter 2

Brick by Brick

Brick by Brick

Chapter Two

Although my castle had various corridors and passageways that lead to many different places that I sought solitude in, my subjects always found me. They would cling to me for no reason at all and I couldn't get them off unless I set their pants ablaze or threw them around a little. As disgusting as they were, they did prove loyal. If I wanted something, anything at all, they'd get it. I asked for a flower blooming on a rock in the middle of the Bog of Eternal Stench. Five goblins went to retrieve it, racing to prove their use to me. There was no flower, and each goblin came back drenched in filthy green mud. I banished them all out of the Labyrinth because they smelt more revolting than I could ever imagine. Filthy idiots.

As much as I despised them they never ceased to praise me. I was always called "His Majesty Jareth" or "Jareth, Royal Master of Goblins." Although I know I was dubbed their king, there was hardly anything to be proud of as their ruler. The filthy creatures managed to maintain their own finances and keep their city in order. There was really nothing for me to do but sit around on my throne all day and watched them fool around like imbeciles. Although I was sitting still, it tired me.

One day the queen of the faeries managed to make it into my castle without being eaten first by a goblin. Though I wished to see no one I took comfort in her visit; it gave me an excuse to leave the goblins for a while. She came to me about protection.

"You see, Jareth, your Labyrinth has taken up where we faeries used to reside. We have tried living with it, but your goblins and other… subjects," she paused. It was obvious that she didn't care for the Labyrinth's inhabitants any more than I did. "Your subjects are a constant danger to us. I wish to make an offer."

I laughed. "What could you possibly have to offer me?"

The faerie pulled from her waist a tiny sack, no bigger that my pinky nail. Her meek voiced trembled, "In exchange for protection in your castle walls I offer you the most powerful magic in the land. More powerful than Mizu-"

"How dare you!" I yelled furiously. I slapped her as she floated in front of my face and knocked her to the ground. Shimmering dust slowly fell to the ground around her like snowfall. The force of my hand must have broken every bone in her fragile body. "You think that you can offer me magic, magic you claim is the most powerful? You dim-witted wench. Mine is the most powerful magic anywhere! And you were about to compare it to Mizumi."

"But, Jareth, Your Highness," she began to say something but her tiny lungs collapsed in a coughing fit. She was barely able to look at me.

I picked her up by her thin, translucent wings and brought her to my face. I looked her straight in the eye, snickering, "If it's protection you seek, you and the rest of your miserable people can have shelter… outside the Labyrinth walls!"

I formed a crystal around her like a bubble and threw it in the air. The orb floated with her inside it, carrying her out of sight, to who knows where. What an idiot. Spittledrum suddenly threw himself at my feet, out of breath from running to the roof of the castle. He tried time and again to say something but proper words never left his mouth. I grew impatient and carried him by his shirt collar back to my throne room. When I got there strange orange creatures were swinging from the ceiling throwing their limbs and broken bottles at one another. They were rolling around on the ground strangling each other. Few goblins lay on the ground unconscious for reasons I didn't know, or particularly care about. A few bottles flew in my direction and a head rolled by my feet and winked at me. I'd had enough of their idiocy. In my mind I wished for them to stop and just remain still and quite. Sure enough, as soon as the crystal left my hand and shattered into pieces on the floor the room froze as if in a painting.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned one that was frozen in mid-air, removing his head from his shoulders.

Its eyes looked about the room. I could hear him holding his breath as if trying to force his lips open. Finally his mouth burst open and a strange scent filled my nostrils. It wasn't completely repulsive but it was strange none the less. He licked his lips then spoke. "Hey, man, we was just lookin' for a place to let loose and come undone, you know. Them you come up and freeze our fun. Haha!"

"Yeah," another one piped in. "You're crampin' our style!"

"You gotta let loose, take off your head."

Suddenly they all fell to the ground and jumped me. Spittledrum tried to push them off me but he was no match. It didn't matter because I flung them all off me as soon as they clamped on to me. Some of their limbs fells off but they didn't seem to care. The furry orange goblins just put themselves together again and jumped on me a second time. I didn't have the patience to deal with their foolishness. I yelled "Listen! You want a place to "let loose?" Go do it there!"

I pointed out to a forest within the Labyrinth walls, a place that seemed abandoned, a place I knew I wouldn't be visiting, especially with those creatures there. They laughed and clapped with ecstasy and bobbled their way out of the castle. As soon as I couldn't hear their idiotic laughing and chanting I collapsed on my throne. Spittledrum attempted to bring me a glass of wine but I smacked the tray out of his hands. I sighed, "I can't stand this. You, the faeries, those… things."

"The Fire Gang," Spittledrum corrected as he picked up the wine bottle.

"I don't care what they are!" I snapped, crushing the wine glass in my hands. "All you creatures are so revolting…"

"Jareth, doesn't like us…?" Spittledrum cowered as he dodged stray pieces of glass that flew through the air.

I spat, "I never liked anyone. Leave me."

Spittledrum slowly back away and a few goblins that still lingered in the room soon followed. No one can understand and I don't expect them to. No one can understand how I long for something more.


	3. Final Chapter

Something more came to me, almost like a dream. Well actually, it was a dream. But I remembered it well. I held on to every detail as though I wished to paint a picture out of it. There was a masquerade ball and a marvelous girl with no mask. She was beautiful, with long dark hair and a dress befitting a princess. She had ribbons in her hair, and all the while she looked as though she was searching for someone. That someone was me. We danced until she fled from me, leaving me all alone again. Then my dream was shattered like glass and I awoke.

I must have had a rather noisy dream because many a goblin were lined up on the footrest of my bed staring at me as though I had spat up faerie dust in my sleep. When I sat up I growled at them to leave me be and they happily obeyed. Well, they seemed happy because all of their faces had idiotic smiles on them.

"What was that all about?" I asked the goblin tailor as I dressed myself. He giggled like a child then turned away with shame when I stared at him. "What, may I ask is so funny?!" I demanded of him.

"Well, King Jareth, sir," he mumbled, not able to look me in the eye. "The others well, they were a listenin' to your dream and they think you're a love sick, Jareth, sir."

"Love?" I fumed. "What sort of silly idea is that? Go and tell your revolting friends that there is no room for love in the terrible heart of his majesty Jareth! Mwuahaha!"

When he finished shinning my shoes, the stout tailor waddled away, leaving me in my chamber to myself. I glanced at the huge mirror to the left of him and approached it slowly. I stared at myself, stared so hard that at any moment I thought the glass might shatter. Did I long for love? Surely I didn't miss Mizumi; there was no chance for that happening any time in the present or future. Did I long for it from someone else? The girl I saw in my dreams? I must be going mad.

The rest of my afternoon was spent sitting in front of my mirror, slowing sinking in to a great depression. I had an argument with myself in the mirror all day long.

"What will the goblins think if you seek love? Surely they won't fear you anymore."

"But then what of my dream? Never have I dreamt of a woman so beautiful! It must mean something."

"Don't ask me, you twit. I'm just your reflection. I know as much as you know."

"Be gone with you!" I yelled to myself. I pressed my fingers against the glass and cracks flew out in every direction. The cracks resembled tree roots to me, and my wrist the foundational trunk. What was I going to do? Well first I knew I was going to have a goblin come in and clean the shards of glass off my floor. I did so, and headed to the roof to clear my head.

That did little good. The night was full of storm clouds and an ominous smell of rain lingered in the air. I grew furious that the weather was not willing to accommodate for my mental needs. I clenched my fists and shouted into the sky. "Rain, damnit! Rain!"

The rain was apparently willing to listen because the moment I demanded it the rain poured from the sky as though it had been waiting years to unleash its fury. I was not yet midnight but the sky took on a fierce black. Nothing was visible except for the speckled lights of Goblin City below. That changed when a sudden bolt of lightning lit up the sky a few moments later.

"Send me a sign!" I screamed into the heavens.

"_Goblin King, Goblin King, wherever you may be, take this child of mine far away from me!"_

What was this? A summons from the Otherworld? In the instant he had heard the cry the rain subsided and the clouds seemed to vanish. I turned my head over my shoulder to the sight of what seemed to be an army of Goblins behind me. They were all mocking the voice for its improper choice of words. Clearly they were ready for the sacrifice of the baby mentioned. I smirked and again faced my Labyrinth. I held out my hand and drew a crystal to view the voice calling to me from the other world. The view was hazy but I could see that she was a plain girl and yet, familiar. Her hair was long and dark and her face emitted an aura of some emotion that he could not define. She seemed lost and yet she knew exactly where she wanted to be. He was intrigued to meet this girl.

"_I wish the goblins would come take you away, right now."_

A chorus of toads sounded from behind me. The stench of their breath from their mouths being open all at once was enough to make me want to jump from the roof right then and there. But I restrained. I simply smile and whispered to them, "Go on, you heard her." They seemed overwhelmed with ecstasy for in a moment they were gone.

And in another moment I was knocking on her window in avian form. Her expression was startled. Clearly she wasn't going to let me in so I let myself in. When I reverted back to my natural form she was even more startled. I was probably just the same in that moment. Standing in front of me was unmistakably the girl from my dream. I had only seen her once before and I already knew her name.

"Hello, Sarah," I smiled.


End file.
